■ Sophie in’t Veld and Marco Cappato  appeal to Moscow Mayor.

BRUSSELS, May 22, 2007  –  Two Members of the European Parliament are spearheading a campaign to try and get the Mayor of Moscow, Yuri Luzhkov, to permit the Moscow Gay Pride march scheduled for Sunday (May 27).

Sophie in’t Veld (Netherlands) and Marco Cappato (Italy), both from the Parliament’s ALDE (Liberal) group, have written an open letter to the mayor calling on him to “promptly authorise [the march], so that [it] can take place without violence or disorders – and that participants are properly protected by Russian authorities”.

The MEPs remind Mr. Luzhkov of last year’s event – the march was banned by the Mayor – and the violence perpetrated by extreme-right groups and religious fundamentalists against the small number of participants who staged a memorial protest outside the Kremlin wall.

“Freedom of expression, freedom of peaceful assembly and freedom from discrimination are enshrined in international and Russian human rights law, on which democracies and the Rule of Law are based. Russian authorities are also bound by the Council of Europe and by the European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (ECHR), as well as by the jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights,” the two MEPs write.

“We draw Russian authorities’ attention to the fact that the [European] Court of [Human Rights in] Strasbourg has recently and unanimously [ruled] in the case “Baczkowski and others v. Poland” an identical ban imposed by the Mayor of Warsaw on the 2005 Equality March in Poland as contrary to the ECHR, notably of its articles 11 (freedom of association and assembly), 13 (right to an effective remedy) and 14 (prohibition of discrimination).

“The same Court has also repeatedly stated that authorities have a positive duty to properly protect participants from possible attacks and violent acts of counter-demonstrators,” they point out.

The open letter has been copied to the Russian President, Vladimir Putin, and Thomas Hammarberg, the Ombudsperson for Human Rights at the Council of Europe.

While Russia is not a member of the European Union, it is a member of the Council of Europe and subscribes to the European Human Rights Charter.

Earlier this year, the European Court of Human Rights accepted a complaint lodged by the organisers of Moscow Pride over last year’s ban on the Pride Parade by the Moscow Mayor.

■ Peter Tatchell (left) and Louis-Georges Tin staged a two-man protest outside Moscow City Hall during last year's Gay Pride. photo: UK Gay News

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Posted: 22 May 2007 at 19:00 (UK time)